POWER STORAGE ADAPTER USING A HIGH EFFICIENCY CHARGING METHOD

• US 20180375359A1
• Filed: 06/23/2017
• Published: 12/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/23/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Dell Products LP (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Sultenfuss, Andrew Thomas, Thompson, Richard Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 10,389,154 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01M 10/4257 Smart batteries, e.g. electronic circuits inside the housing of the cells or batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00 Circuit arrangements for charging or depolarising batteries or for supplying loads from batteries
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/00034 Charger exchanging data with an electronic device, i.e. telephone, whose internal battery is under charge
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/0068 Battery or charger load switching, e.g. concurrent charging and load supply H02J7/0013 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/007184 in response to battery voltage gradient
• CPC Class Codes: H02J 7/342 The other DC source being a battery actively interacting with the first one, i.e. battery to battery charging with circuits for polarity protection H02J7/0034
• CPC Class Codes: Y02E 60/10 Energy storage using batteries

Abstract

A power storage adapter may use a high efficiency charging method when supplying electrical power to a portable information handling system when the power storage adapter is not connected to AC line power. In particular, the power storage adapter may minimize or avoid supplying electrical power when an internal battery of the portable information handling system is in a constant voltage charging regime (or at a given state of charge), in which the electrical power decreases as the state of charge increases.

Claims

1. A power storage adapter (PSA), comprising:

a PSA port;

a PSA battery; and

a PSA controller having access to memory media storing instructions executable by the PSA controller,

wherein when a portable information handling system is connected to the PSA port to receive first electrical power supplied by the power storage adapter, an AC line power source does not supply electrical power to the power storage adapter, and a first state of charge of the PSA battery is above a recharging state of charge, the instructions are executable by the PSA controller to;

determine a second state of charge of an internal battery included with the portable information handling system; and

when the second state of charge indicates that the internal battery is operating in a constant voltage charging regime, discontinue supplying the first electrical power at the PSA port.

2. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein:

the PSA port is a USB Type-C port; and

the instructions to discontinue supplying the first electrical power further comprise instructions to;

perform a soft reset at the PSA port, wherein a first universal serial bus (USB) power delivery contract in effect between the portable information handling system and the power storage adapter is terminated.

3. The power storage adapter of claim 2, further comprising instructions to:

establish a second USB power delivery contract between the portable information handling system and the power storage adapter to deliver lowest electrical power by the power storage adapter at the PSA port.

4. The power storage adapter of claim 3, wherein the lowest electrical power is zero electrical power.

5. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the instructions to determine the second state of charge further comprise instructions to:

communicate with the portable information handling system via the PSA port to receive information indicative of the second state of charge.

6. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the instructions to determine the second state of charge further comprise instructions to:

determine the first electrical power supplied to the portable information handling system at the PSA port; and

based on a charging curve for the internal battery, correlate the first electrical power to determine the second state of charge.

7. The power storage adapter of claim 1, wherein the second state of charge is at least 80% when the internal battery is operating in the constant voltage charging regime.

8. The power storage adapter of claim 3, further comprising instructions to:

determine that the second state of charge indicates that the internal battery is operating in a constant current charging regime;

responsive to determining the constant current charging regime, resume supplying the first electrical power to the portable information handling system.

9. The power storage adapter of claim 8, wherein:

the PSA port is a USB Type-C port; and

the instructions to resume supplying the first electrical power further comprise instructions to;

terminate the second USB power delivery contract; and

reestablish the first USB power delivery contract with the portable information handling system.

10. A method, comprising:

when a portable information handling system is connected to a PSA port of a power storage adapter to receive first electrical power supplied by the power storage adapter, an AC line power source does not supply electrical power to the power storage adapter, and a state of charge of a PSA battery included with the power storage adapter is above a recharging state of charge,

determining a second state of charge of an internal battery included with the portable information handling system; and

when the second state of charge indicates that the internal battery is operating in a constant voltage charging regime, discontinuing supplying the first electrical power at the PSA port.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the PSA port is a USB Type-C port, and wherein discontinuing supplying the first electrical power further comprises:

performing a soft reset at the PSA port, wherein a first universal serial bus (USB) power delivery contract in effect with the portable information handling system is terminated.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

establishing a second USB power delivery contract between the portable information handling system and the power storage adapter to deliver lowest electrical power at the PSA port.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the lowest electrical power is zero electrical power.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the second state of charge further comprises:

communicating with the portable information handling system via the PSA port to receive information indicative of the second state of charge.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the second state of charge further comprises:

determining the first electrical power supplied to the portable information handling system at the first PSA port; and

based on a charging curve for the internal battery, correlating the first electrical power to determine the second state of charge.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein the second state of charge is at least 80% when the internal battery is operating in the constant voltage charging regime.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

determining that the second state of charge indicates that the internal battery is operating in a constant current charging regime;

responsive to determining the constant current charging regime, resuming supplying the first electrical power to the portable information handling system.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the PSA port is a USB Type-C port, and resuming supplying the first electrical power further comprises:

terminating the second USB power delivery contract; and

reestablishing the first USB power delivery contract with the portable information handling system.